The Normandy pulled into the Citadel docking bay. Most of Shepard's squad left while he coordinated with the tower. Vega, EDI, Kaidan, Garrus, and Liara all left, along with a few other crew members such as Chakwas and Joker. Chakwas went up to the hospital to visit and help. Joker and EDI headed down to Purgatory to spend time together, while Vega and Garrus both went down to the refugee camps to help out as much as they could. Kaidan and Liara went to the presidium for some down to time. Shepard and Tali were the last ones to leave the ship, after everyone else had gone their separate ways. The couple conversed as they walked to the elevator. "I need to go talk to the Asari councilor," Shepard told Tali as they passed through the security checkpoint.
"Alright. I have to go up to the presidium for a meeting with a Turian official," she replied as they entered the elevator. The door slid closed as she continued. "The other Admirals asked me to be the ambassador for the Quarian people."
"Are you still an Admiral?" he asked curiously.
"Yes, technically." She sighed. "It's kind of complicated." The door opened at the embassy level.
Shepard grabbed Tali's hand. "Meet you up there?" he suggested as he started walking away backwards.
They stretched their arms as she answered. "Sounds good," she said, just as their hands parted. They smiled at each other before Shepard turned around and the door closed in front of Tali. As the elevator started moving again, she realized that this was the first time they would genuinely be separated since they had been reunited. Plus, now she had to go be an ambassador, which she had never done before. She wrung her hands nervously as the elevator pulled up to the presidium. The door opened, but she lingered inside. Maybe I could just wait for…
No. She stopped herself from even finishing that thought. She stepped out of the elevator, stopped wringing her hands, and took off confidently deeper into the Presidium. She needed to find the C-Sec office; her meeting was scheduled to be in the courtyard outside of there. Luckily, there was a map fairly close to the elevator. She scanned it with her omni tool, and used it to get directions. When she got there, there was only one Turian there. She recognized him instantly, and froze. She started wringing her hands again.
Back when Tali had come to the Citadel for the first time three years ago, she had possessed revealing evidence about one of the council's best spectres: Saren. And he, as was to be expected, wasn't very happy about that. He sent people to stop her, and she had been through a lot to get all the way to the Citadel. She was tired, hurt, hungry; all she wanted was a trade. So she went to C-Sec, hoping they could offer some sort of protection in exchange for the info. Looking back now, that probably wasn't the best option at the time. But she had been on her pilgrimage, it was her first time on the Citadel. She didn't know any better. But the officers didn't care, especially not the Turian official who she had tried to talk to. He wouldn't even listen to her: all he cared about was that she was a Quarian, and that she was bothering him. He sent her away without a second thought, threatening to write her up for some bogus offense. Tali couldn't even get a word in edgewise. She had never met anyone so cold or bitter to others before.
She could remember it like it was yesterday. And now that same official was standing thirty feet away, waving her over. It took her a couple more seconds to register that she still had to go over and talk to him. She was extremely conflicted, but she reluctantly resumed walking towards the Turian. She didn't know what she would do if he recognized her.
Fortunately, he didn't. "Tali'Zorah?" he asked. And just as he said that, Tali realized there would be no way for him to know who she was. She had never gotten to say her name, and even her suit was different. Tali breathed a sigh of relief as she nodded to the official. "I'm Natus," he said, somewhat warmly. "Pleasure to meet you."
Tali smirked behind her mask. "You…" she started as she thought about telling him off. Thought about saying that he had had the chance before, that he was lucky she was even willing to talk to him after how he had treated her. But she could barely form the thought before she remembered Palaven. And the Reapers. And Shepard. "As well," she finished. Now wasn't the time to hold grudges, she decided. There was a war going on. And Shepard had shown her that you could get just as much done, with better relations, by being kind and forgiving.
Natus gave her a strange look, sensing some tension in her voice. But he brushed it off quickly. "Let's get down to business," he said. "I understand the Quarians have joined in with the Alliance Navy, same as the Turians." Tali nodded. "Now that we're in this together, the hierarchy feels comfortable asking for your assistance."
"What do you need?"
"We have a colony, on Oma Ker in the Aethon Cluster, that's under attack by Cerberus forces. They need extraction, and our fleet is stretched too thin to send enough ships to actually help. The hierarchy was hoping the Quarian fleet could spare a few ships to rescue our colonists."
Tali pulled up her omni tool and started typing. "I'll send a request to the other Admirals," she told him. She was relieved that this was going smoothly, and glad that she had decided against bringing up the past.
Natus fidgeted. He was clearly conflicted about something, but Tali was looking down and didn't notice. Just as Tali was about to send the message, he spoke up. "Wait." Tali looked up. "One of the purposes of the colony was to mine eezo. They've found quite a bit, and you're welcome to take a share. As appreciation."
Tali was humbled. "Thank you," she said simply as she altered the message and sent it off. Now she was very glad she hadn't brought up the past, she could have lost a valuable resource. There was a reply almost instantly. She took a second to read it before looking back up at Natus. "We're sending ships as soon as we can. They should be there within 36 hours. Do you need medical support?" Just then, Shepard entered the courtyard and spotted Tali, her back turned. He started walking over to her as the Turian responded.
"No, evacuating the colony is more than enough," he said gratefully as Tali keyed a quick response to the Admirals into her omni tool. "Thank you, ambassador," he added, extending his hand. They shook, ending the exchange. "We'll be in touch," he said as he walked away and Shepard almost immediately filled his place.
"How's it going, ambassador?" he asked playfully. But Tali was looking over Shepard's shoulder, watching the Turian leave, and still thinking about how different her first meeting with him went.
She was too deep in thought to directly respond to Shepard. "I think it was right here," she said, half talking to him. "Three years ago to the day."
"What?" he asked curiously.
Tali finally looked at him. "This is where Saren's assassins fired at me." She looked down at her feet. "I'd just gotten to the Citadel. I didn't think I needed my barriers up," she continued, somewhat embarrassed. "My mistake."
"You never told me about this," Shepard responded, concerned. "How bad was it?"
Tali looked back up at him. "Got me in the arm. I was running a fever in minutes. It was the first time I'd been really hurt on my pilgrimage," she explained. "I ran here to ask for protection, to offer the information I had on Saren." She paused and wrung her hands a few times. "The Turian clerk…called me 'suit rat'. He threatened to have me tossed off the station if I didn't leave."
"I wish that clerk could see you now," Shepard said, trying to cheer her up.
Tali dropped her hands to her side. "He just did. That was him back there. I don't think he remembers me," she said, still somber from the memory.
"And you're assisting him in spite of that," Shepard replied through a small smile. He was proud of her: she was being the bigger person.
"This war is too big for old grudges," she told him. She smiled back as she continued. "You showed me that," she said as she took a small step closer to him. "We're at peace with the Geth, how can I waste my time on a Turian who made me angry? Besides, it all worked out. I made it to the wards. You found me. Happy ending," she explained, now in higher spirits.
"And now the Turians will get the help they need," Shepard added.
Tali sighed. "I nearly reminded him who I was," she said as she shook her head. "Made him apologize, rubbed his nose in it. Maybe he and I both needed to grow up a little."
Shepard could tell she was slipping back. "The difference is you helped when it counted."
Tali just looked at Shepard for a second, then shook her head again. "The difference was you." The two of them just continued to look at each other for a few more moments. Shepard realized then just how happy he was to have Tali back with him, and how happy he was that she was glad to have him. He grinned at her and snatched up her hand. They started walking out of the area together, and Tali finally had a chance to look around. "I love the presidium," she told Shepard as she took it all in. "I could look at this place forever."
"Almost makes you forget about all that's going on," Shepard added, not even wanting to say the word 'Reaper'. He paused, looking around as well. "Want to get something to eat?" he asked after a bit, wanting to make sure she was cheered up. He pointed over to Apollo's Café as he continued. "It'd be nice to have some time to talk, and what better place?"
Tali looked over towards the restaurant. It was a beautiful spot, and they hadn't had a chance to really talk sine they were reunited. Plus, she was kind of hungry. "Sure," she said. "We did sort of skip the date part this time around," she teased. Shepard grinned again as they walked up to the counter.
The clerk was clearly bored out of his mind. "Welcome to Apollo's, what can I get for you?" he asked in a dull, monotone voice. Shepard nudged Tali.
She scanned over the menu, bringing her free hand up to the bottom of her mask, where her chin was, and rubbing it. Shepard smirked. She was too cute. "I'll have the Palaven chips, with a small dextro sauce," she said after a few seconds.
"Can you sterilize that?" Shepard asked, squeezing Tali's hand.
She glanced over at him thankfully as the clerk answered. "Costs extra," he mumbled as he typed the order.
"That's fine," Shepard said. "And I'll have a cheeseburger, hold the onions. " It had literally been years since Shepard had eaten a legitimate burger. He ate them all the time back when he was living on Earth. The classics never died. Even though he didn't have the best memories of growing up on Earth, he still loved the things he grew up on.
Tali was a stark contrast. She had basically grown up on dextro-amino nutrient paste. She still hated the taste, and now was just glad to get real dextro food.
"We'll have it ready soon, please take a seat," the clerk told them in his consistent, indifferent voice.
"Bring a couple of waters too," Shepard threw in as they walked away. He leaned closer to Tali and mimicked the clerk's monotone voice as he whispered into her ear. "Where would you like to sit?" Tali giggled, the impression was spot on. She pointed over to a small, empty table that was nearby, on the café's balcony. Shepard pulled out her chair, letting go of her hand, before circling around the table to take his own seat.
"So how did it go with the councilor?" she asked once they were settled in. Tali noticed Shepard check his pocket for something before responding.
"As good as those things can go," he responded with a sigh. He adjusted his chair and let his eyes drift. "We're headed to Thessia next, for another lead on Prothean tech." Tali continued to look at him patiently, sensing he had more to say. After a few more moments, he looked back to Tali and went on. "I'm getting tired of running errands for people," he admitted to her. "I feel like we should be doing something to fight. "
"I know," she responded gently. She reached across the table and placed one of her hands on Shepard's. "And I know, that you know, we're doing a lot to help." Shepard forced himself to smile at her. But Tali knew him, she wasn't fooled.
"I don't know what I'd do without you, Tali," he said as she patted his hand before withdrawing her own.
"You wouldn't get together with Liara again?" Tali asked. She was teasing, but was also expecting a certain answer.
Shepard smirked and shook his head. "I don't know if you know: I was always interested in you. But I could never tell how you felt about me back then, you had so much going on."
Tali sighed and rubbed the back of her head. "New ship, new people, my pilgrimage," she listed. "Even I could barely recognize my massive attraction to you." Shepard smiled again, and Tali could tell this one wasn't forced. She smiled back; glad she could cheer him up, just as a plate of food was slid in front of her. The platter was lined neatly with about half a dozen square, ridged slices of a pale red food. Each large chip had a slab of a white substance that had been melted on, and filled the majority of the ridges and cracks. There was also a small bowl filled with a light blue sauce. Tali picked up a chip, it was firm, but she could tell it wouldn't really be crunchy. She inspected it closely; making sure it had been sufficiently sterilized. When she was satisfied, she broke the chip in half, opened a small section of her mask, and popped the bit in her mouth. The small opening slid shut as she started chewing. It was no gourmet, but it was tons better than rations.
She glanced across the table, seeing Shepard smell the big, juicy cheeseburger that he was holding with both hands. Tali dunked the other half of her chip in her sauce while Shepard took the first bite. They continued to eat in silence for a few more bites, savoring the delicious, non-rationed food. "So just how attractive was I?" he asked playfully. "Do I need to be careful around women?"
"Oh, for sure," Tali answered sarcastically with a smirk. "I'm surprised they're not flocking to you right now."
"Maybe I need my armor," he pondered jokingly.
"You want to cover yourself up more?"
"Seems to work for you," he complimented. Tali blushed slightly and took another bite, avoiding have to answer. Shepard chuckled before taking another bite of his own food. They made small talk about their food, the difference between dextro and levo, and the significance of the cheeseburger as they continued to eat.
Once Tali had only half a chip left and Shepard polished off his meal, he looked deeply into Tali's eyes. "I would never go back to Liara," he told her sincerely. He had been thinking about this while they ate, and decided the conversation wasn't quite settled. Tali stopped eating, put one of her elbows on the table, and leaned forward dramatically to rest her chin on the back of her hand. Shepard smiled at her playfully expectant look. He checked his pocket again before continuing. "I didn't know what I was missing back then. Once I found out, I wanted you even more. And now that I have you, I know that you're all that I want." Shepard reached across the table and grabbed her free hand with both of his. "I honestly don't know what I'd do without you. Especially now."
Tali moved her other hand away from her head and lowered it down to Shepard's two. "I don't know what I'd do without you either," she told him. He grinned at her, but this wasn't his usual, amused grin. This grin was full of warmth and happiness, more happiness than Tali had seen in him for quite some time. She couldn't help but grin back.
Shepard's grin turned into a regular smile, and he shifted in his seat. Right then was the best opportunity he was going to get. "What's wrong?" Tali asked, her grin leaving as well, feeling him tense up slightly.
Shepard thought through his words. "You know I don't want anyone else," Shepard said as he withdrew a hand and checked his pocket for one last time. Tali nodded, not sure where he was going with this, and wondering why he kept checking his pocket. "But it's more than that. I don't want to lose you." Shepard moved out of his seat and propped himself up on one knee. "I never want to be apart from you." Tali gasped and brought her hands up to her mask, trying to cover her mouth, when she realized what Shepard was doing.
When she and Shepard first started 'dating', Tali had watched several vids about human dating customs. There had always been a part near the end when they talked about moving to the 'next step' in the relationship. At the time, she hadn't really known what it was all about. She knew there was another level of commitment (humans called it being engaged, or marriage, or something), but she never really understood the transition. She didn't even know about it in Quarian culture, it had never been explained to her. All she could remember from the vids were the basics, and that it was a fairly big deal.
But watching it happen in front of her, it all came together. She remembered all the pieces, and how they worked, in that instant. Shepard was proposing to her. He wanted to commit to her. And it was a massive deal.
She felt her eyes water up as Shepard continued. "I want to spend the rest of my life with you." Shepard slid his hand into his pocket. "No matter how long that is." He pulled out small ring, clearly made for human hands. It had a string going through it, making it into a necklace. "I love you, Tali'Zorah vas Normandy," he said as he held up the ring for her to see. "Will you stay with me…" Tears of joy slowly started running down Tali's cheeks. "…forever?"
Tali sniffed and let out a short breath. She didn't want to choke up on her answer.
"Yes."
Shepard grinned the same way he had earlier. Tali's tears continued to flow as he stood and delicately placed the necklace over her head. She instantly stood as well once it was around her neck, wrapping her arms around Shepard before she was even fully up. "Shepard, I…you know that-"
"I know," Shepard whispered softly as he held her as close as he possibly could.
